This invention:relates to a manner for heating a valve contained within an air intake system for a vehicle.
An air intake system provides clean air to engine cylinders of a vehicle. Such a system includes an intake opening that allows air to flow through a flow passage into a manifold, which then distributes air to the engine cylinders. Typically, a throttle valve controls the flow of air in the flow passage through the opening and closing of a throttle blade. A position sensor interconnects with this throttle blade to detect its rotational position within the flow passage. This position sensor is typically contained in a housing.
At times, the throttle valve may freeze in an undesirable position or otherwise operate in less than an optimal manner due to a combination of ambient moisture and low temperature. This condition could interfere with the proper operation of the vehicle engine and reduce its performance. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a way to heat the throttle valve within the air intake system.
In a disclosed embodiment of this invention, the air intake system of the vehicle engine includes a flow body that allows for the flow of air through a flow passage to the vehicle engine. A throttle valve disposed in this passage controls the amount of air transmitted to the vehicle engine. Supporting this throttle valve within the passage is a shaft for driving the throttle valve within the flow passage. To avoid a freezing condition caused by ambient moisture and low temperature, the shaft is positioned adjacent to a heating element, which, when activated, heats the shaft, thereby heating the throttle valve.
The throttle shaft is also provided with a position sensor to provide feedback of the position of the blade of the throttle valve. The position sensor is preferably mounted adjacent one end of the throttle shaft in a housing. The heating element is preferably mounted in this housing. More preferably, the heating element is coiled around the shaft within this housing for the position sensor.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.